Cheika denies trying to cover up reason for Beale axing

SYDNEY: Michael Cheika has denied he tried to cover-up the real reason for Kurtley Beale’s surprise axing from the Wallabies team, after it emerged he was dropped for allowing women into his hotel room.

The Australia coach on Thursday told reporters the gifted playmaker had been left out of the matchday squad to play England at Twickenham this weekend for form reasons.

It was subsequently reported that Beale and fellow veteran Adam Ashley-Cooper were in fact punished for allowing women — known to the pair — into their Cardiff hotel following Australia’s 9-6 defeat by Wales on November 10.

When he decided to drop the players, Cheika said he opted against making the real reason public as it would have been counter-productive to the team. “It’s more effective where there’s that silent type of approach,” he was quoted as saying in the Sydney Daily Telegraph Saturday.

“Often when you’re doing these things and you broadcast and you send out a news release, you’re trying to appease others,” he added, denying he had lied earlier in the week when he was asked about Beale’s surprise axing.